M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

23 And Balaam said to Balak, Build thou here to me seven altars, and make thou ready so many calves, and rams of the same number. (And Balaam said to Balak, Build thou here seven altars for me, and prepare seven calves, and the same number of rams.)

² And when Balak had done by the word of Balaam, they putted a calf and a ram together on the altar. (And when Balak had done what Balaam had asked, they offered a calf and a ram on each altar.)

³ And (then) Balaam said to Balak, Stand thou (here) a little while beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go, if in hap the Lord (shall) meet (with) me; and I shall tell thee whatever thing he shall command. And when he had gone [away] swiftly (And when he had quickly gone away by himself),

⁴ God came to him; and Balaam spake to him, and said, I have raised up seven altars, and I have put a calf and a ram above each of them (and I have put a calf and a ram on each of them).

⁵ Forsooth the Lord putted a word in his mouth, and said, Turn again to Balak, and thou shalt speak these things. (And the Lord put a word in his mouth, and said, Return to Balak, and thou shalt say these things to him.)

⁶ He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and all the princes of Moabites. (And he returned, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of the Moabites.)

⁷ And when his parable was taken, he said, Balak, the king of Moabites, brought me from Aram, from the hills of the east; and he said, Come thou, and curse Jacob; haste thou, and curse Israel. (And when he had received his prophecy, he said, Balak, the king of the Moabites, brought me from Syria, yea, from the hills of the east; and he said, Come thou, and curse Jacob; hurry thou, and curse Israel.)

⁸ How shall I curse, whom God hath cursed not? (But how can I curse, whom God hath not cursed?) by what reason shall I loathe, whom God loatheth not?

⁹ From the highest flints I shall see him, and from the little hills I shall behold him; the people shall dwell alone, and it shall not be reckoned among heathen men. (From the highest rocks I shall see them, and from the little hills I shall behold them; these people shall live alone, and they shall not be counted among the heathen.)

¹⁰ Who may number the dust, that is, the kindred, of Jacob, and who may know the number of the generation of Israel? My life die in the death of just men, and my last things be made like them! (O let me die like the righteous die, and let my ending be made like theirs!)

¹¹ And Balak said to Balaam, What is this that thou doest? I called thee, that thou shouldest curse mine enemies, and on the contrary, thou blessest them.

¹² To whom Balaam answered, Whether I may speak (any) other thing, no but that that the Lord commandeth?

¹³ Therefore Balak said to Balaam, Come with me into another place, from whence thou mayest see a part of Israel, and thou mayest not see all; from thence curse thou him. (And so Balak said to Balaam, Come with me to another place, from where thou can see a part of the Israelites, but thou cannot see all of them; and curse thou them from there.)

¹⁴ And when he had led Balaam into an high place, on the top of the hill of Pisgah, he builded there seven altars to Balaam, and when calves and rams were put above them, (And so when he had led Balaam to the Field of Zophim, that is, to the Field of the Watchers, on top of Mount Pisgah, he built seven altars for Balaam, and when a calf and a ram were offered on each altar,)

¹⁵ Balaam said to Balak, Stand here beside thy burnt sacrifice, while I go to meet with the Lord.

¹⁶ And when the Lord had met with Balaam, and had put a word in his mouth, he said, Turn again to Balak (Return to Balak), and thou shalt say these things to him.

¹⁷ He turned again, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and the princes of Moabites with him. To whom Balak said, What hath spoken the Lord? (And he returned, and found Balak standing beside his burnt sacrifice, and the leaders of the Moabites with him. And Balak said to him, What hath the Lord said?)

¹⁸ And when his parable was taken (And when he had received his prophecy), he said, Stand thou (up), Balak, and harken; hear, thou son of Zippor.

¹⁹ God is not a man, that he (can) lie, neither he is as the son of a man, that he (can) be changed; therefore he hath said, and shall he not do it? he hath spoken, and shall he not fulfill it?

²⁰ I am brought hither by the Lord to bless; (and) I may not forbid, or hinder, (the) blessing.

²¹ None idol is in Jacob, neither simulacrum is seen in Israel; his Lord God is with him, and the sound of the victory of a king is in him. (There is no idolatry in Jacob, no false god is seen in Israel; the Lord their God is with them, and they hear the shout of the victory of their King.)

²² The Lord God led him out of Egypt, whose strength is like an unicorn; (The Lord God led them out of Egypt, whose strength is like a wild ox;)

²³ false divining by (the) chittering of birds is not in Jacob, neither false divining is in Israel. In his times, (that is,) when, where, and how God will, it shall be said to Jacob and to Israel, What the Lord hath wrought! (false divining by the twittering of birds is not in Jacob, yea, false divining is not in Israel. In his own timing, that is, when, where, and how God desireth it, it shall be said of Jacob, and of Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!/Yea, at this time, it can be said of Jacob, and of Israel, What the Lord hath wrought!)

²⁴ Lo! the people shall rise together as a lioness, and it shall be raised as a lion (Lo! the people shall rise up like a lioness, and they shall be raised up like a lion); the lion shall not rest, till he devour [the] prey, and drink the blood of them that be slain.

²⁵ And Balak said to Balaam, Neither curse thou, neither bless thou him. (And Balak said to Balaam, If thou wilt not curse them, at least do not thou bless them!)

²⁶ And Balaam said, Whether I said not to thee, that whatever thing God commanded to me, I would do that?

²⁷ And Balak said to him, Come, and I shall lead thee to another place, if in hap it pleaseth God that from thence thou curse him (perhaps it shall please God that thou curse them from there).

²⁸ And when Balak had led him out on(to) the top of the hill of Peor, that beholdeth the wilderness, (And when Balak had led Balaam to the top of Mount Peor, that overlooketh Jeshimon, that is, the wilderness,)

²⁹ Balaam said to Balak, Build here seven altars to me, and make ready so many calves, and rams of the same number. (Balaam said to Balak, Now also build seven altars here for me, and prepare seven calves, and the same number of rams.)

³⁰ Balak did as Balaam said, and he put the calves and the rams, by all the altars. (And Balak did as Balaam said, and he put a calf and a ram on each of the altars.)

64 To victory, the psalm of David. God, hear thou my prayer, when I beseech; deliver thou my soul from dread of the enemy. (To victory, the song of David. God, hear thou my prayer, when I beseech thee; save thou me from the threats of my enemies.)

² Thou hast defended me from the covent of evil-doers; from the multitude of them that work wickedness. (Thou hast protected me from the plots of the evil-doers; yea, from the many who do evil.)

³ For they sharpened their tongues as a sword, they bend their bow, a bitter thing; (For they sharpened their tongues like swords, yea, they bent their bows, and shot out bitter words;)

⁴ for to shoot in huddles, or privates, him that is unwemmed. Suddenly they shall shoot him, and they shall not dread; (to secretly attack he who is without blemish, or without fault. Suddenly they shall shoot at him, and they shall not fear;)

⁵ they made steadfast to themselves a wicked word. They told, that they should hide snares; they said, Who shall see them? (for they encouraged each other in their evil plots. And they told one another to hide their snares; even though they also said, But who shall see them?)

⁶ They sought wickednesses; they sought, and failed (not) in seeking. A man nighed to [a] deep heart; (They sought out wickednesses; yea, they sought them out, and failed not in finding them, for their hearts be dark and deep.)

⁷ and God shall be enhanced. The arrows of little men, that is, (of) envious men, be made the wounds of them; (But God shall shoot his arrows at them; and then suddenly they shall be the ones who be wounded.)

⁸ and the tongues of them be made sick against them. All men be troubled, that saw them; (And their tongues, that is, their own evil words, shall be their own undoing. And all who see them shall shake their heads;)

⁹ and each man dreaded. And they told the works of God; and they understood the deeds of him. (and every person shall be afraid. And they shall tell about the works of God; for they shall understand his deeds, that is, why he hath done all this.)

¹⁰ The just man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in him; and all men of rightful heart shall be praised. (The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust him; and all who have upright hearts shall praise him.)

65 To victory, the psalm of the song of David. God, praising becometh thee in Zion; and a vow shall be yielded to thee in Jerusalem. (God, praises be due to thee in Zion; and our vows shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.)

² Hear thou my prayer; each man shall come to thee. (Hear thou my prayer; let everyone come to thee.)

³ The words of wicked men had the mastery over us; and thou shalt do mercy to our wickednesses. (The words of the wicked had the mastery over us; but thou hath shown mercy toward our wickednesses.)

⁴ Blessed is he, whom thou hast chosen, and hast taken; he shall dwell in thy foreyards. We shall be [ful]filled with the goods of thine house; thy temple is holy, (Happy is he, whom thou hast chosen, and thou hast brought to live in thy courtyards; and we shall be satisfied with the good things of thy House, yea, of thy holy Temple.)

⁵ wonderful in equity. God, our health, hear thou us; thou art hope of all coasts of earth, and in the sea afar. (With wonderful things, and with victory, thou answereth us, O God, our salvation/O God, our deliverance; thou art the hope of all who be at the ends of the earth, and who be far across the sea.)

⁶ And thou makest ready hills in thy virtue, and art girded with power; (And thou preparest the mountains with thy strength, and thou art girded with power;)

⁷ which troublest the depth of the sea, the sound of the waves thereof. Folks shall be troubled, (ye who maketh the sea to be still, when it is troubled, yea, who quieteth the roar of its waves. And the people as well; when they be troubled.)

⁸ and they that dwell in the ends shall dread of thy signs; thou shalt delight the outgoings of the morrowtide and eventide. (And they who live at the ends of the earth shall be filled with awe at thy signs; thou even makest the morning and the evening to have delight at what thou hast done.)

⁹ Thou hast visited the land, and hast greatly filled it; thou hast multiplied to make it rich. The flood of God was [full-]filled with waters; thou madest ready the meat of them, for the making ready thereof is so (The rivers of God were filled full with water; and thou preparedest rain for the land/and thou preparedest corn for the land, for such is its preparation).

¹⁰ Thou filling greatly the streams thereof, multiply the fruits thereof; the land bringing forth fruits shall be glad in the gutters of it. (And by greatly filling up its streams, thou hast multiplied its fruits; and the land bringing forth these fruits shall be glad for all this water.)

¹¹ Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy good will; and thy fields shall be [full-]filled with plenty of fruits. (Thou shalt crown the year with thy goodness/with thy good things; and thy fields shall be filled full with plenty of fruits.)

¹² The fair things of desert shall wax fat; and little hills shall be compassed with full out joying. (The fields of the wilderness shall grow fat; and the hills shall resound with rejoicing.)

¹³ The wethers of sheep be clothed, and valleys shall be plenteous of wheat; they shall cry (out), and soothly they shall say praising/and soothly they shall say psalm. (The pastures shall be clothed with sheep, and the valleys shall be plentiful with corn; they shall cry aloud, and truly they shall say praises/and truly they shall sing songs.)

13 The burden of Babylon, which burden Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw.

² Raise ye [up] a sign on a misty hill, and enhance ye [the] voice; raise ye the hand, and [the] dukes enter by the gates. (Raise ye up a sign on a misty hill, and lift ye up the voice; raise ye up the hand, and let the leaders enter in by the gates.)

³ I have commanded to mine hallowed men, and I (have) called my strong men in my wrath, that make full out joy in my glory.

⁴ The voice of [the] multitude in hills, as of many peoples; the voice of [the] sound of kings, of heathen men gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the chivalry of [the] battle, (The sound of a multitude in the hills, yea, that of many people; the sound of kings, and of the heathen gathered together. The Lord of hosts commanded to the cavalry, or to the army, preparing for battle,)

⁵ to men coming from a far land. The Lord cometh from the highness of heaven, and (with him) the vessels of his strong vengeance, that he destroy all the land.

⁶ Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is nigh; as wasting, either destroying, it shall come of the Lord. (Yell ye, for the day of the Lord is near, or is soon; it shall come as wasting, or as destruction, from the Lord.)

⁷ For this thing all hands shall be unmighty, and each heart of man shall fail, and shall be all-broken.

⁸ Gnawings and sorrows shall hold Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, as they that travail of child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their cheers shall be burnt faces. (Gnawings and sorrows shall hold the Babylonians; they shall have sorrow, like she who laboureth with child. Each man shall wonder at his neighbour; their faces shall burn with shame.)

⁹ Lo! the day of the Lord shall come, cruel, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and of strong vengeance; to set the land into wilderness, and to all-break the sinners thereof from that land.

¹⁰ For why the stars of heaven and the shining of them shall not spread abroad their light; the sun is made dark in his rising, and the moon shall not shine in her light. (And the stars of the heavens and their shining shall not spread abroad their light; the sun shall be made dark at its rising, and the moon shall not shine with its light.)

¹¹ And I shall visit on the evils of the world, and I shall visit against wicked men the wickedness of them; and I shall make the pride of unfaithful men for to rest, and I shall make low the boast of strong men. (And I shall punish the world for its evil/And I shall bring disaster upon the world, and I shall punish the wicked for their wickedness; and I shall make the pride of the unfaithful to cease, and I shall make low the boast of the strong.)

¹² A man of full age shall be preciouser than gold, and a man shall be preciouser than pure gold and shining. (A person of great age, or maturity, shall be more precious, or more rare, than gold, yea, such a person shall be more precious than the pure gold of Ophir.)

¹³ On this thing I shall trouble (the) heaven(s), and the earth shall be moved from his place (and the earth shall be moved from its place); for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of wrath of his strong vengeance.

¹⁴ And it shall be as a doe fleeing, and as a sheep, and none shall be that shall gather together; each man shall turn to his people, and all by themselves shall flee to their land. (And they shall be like a fleeing doe, or like sheep, and there shall be no one who shall gather them up; each man shall return to his own people, yea, everyone shall flee to their own land.)

¹⁵ Each man that is found, shall be slain; and each man that cometh above, shall fall down by sword. (Each person who is found, shall be killed; and each person who is taken captive, shall fall down by the sword.)

¹⁶ The young children of them shall be hurtled down before the eyes of them; their houses shall be ravished, and their wives shall be defouled. (Their young children shall be hurtled down before their eyes; their houses shall be robbed, and their wives shall be defiled.)

¹⁷ Lo! I shall raise on them Medes, that seek not silver, neither will gold; (Lo! I shall raise up the Medes against them, who seek not silver, nor desire gold;)

¹⁸ but they shall slay little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy on wombs giving milk, and the eye of them shall not spare on sons. (but they shall kill little children with arrows, and they shall not have mercy upon wombs, or upon mothers, giving milk, and they shall not spare even one of the sons or daughters.)

¹⁹ And Babylon, that glorious city in realms, noble in the pride of Chaldees, shall be destroyed, as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (And Babylon, that most glorious city of all kingdoms, noble in the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be destroyed, like God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

²⁰ It shall not be inhabited till into the end (It shall never be inhabited again), and it shall not be founded till to generation and generation; a man of Arabia shall not set tents there, and shepherds shall not rest there.

²¹ But wild beasts shall rest there, and the houses of them shall be filled with dragons; and ostriches shall dwell there (and owls shall nest there), and hairy beasts shall skip there.

²² And bitterns shall answer there in the houses thereof, and flying serpents in the temples of lust. It is nigh that the time thereof come, and the days thereof shall not be made far; (And bitterns shall cry there in its houses, and flying serpents in its beautiful palaces. It is near, or very soon, when that time shall come, and its days shall not be prolonged;)

1 Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen men, to the comelings of scattering abroad [to the chosen comelings of dispersion, or scattering abroad], of Pontus, of Galatia, of Cappadocia, of Asia, and of Bithynia,

² by the before-knowing of God, the Father, in hallowing of Spirit, by obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace and peace be multiplied to you. [after the prescience of God, the Father, into hallowing of the Spirit, into obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you be multiplied.]

³ Blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which by his great mercy [which after his great mercy] begat us again into living hope, by the again-rising of Jesus Christ from death [by the again-rising of Jesus Christ from dead],

⁴ into heritage uncorruptible, and undefouled, and that shall not fade, that is kept in heavens for you [kept in heavens for you],

⁵ that in the virtue of God be kept by the faith into health, and is ready to be showed in the last time [made ready to be showed in the last time].

⁶ In which ye shall make joy, though it behooveth now a little to be sorry in diverse temptations;

⁷ that the proving of your faith be much more precious than gold, that is proved by fire; and be found into praising, and glory, and honour, in the revelation of Jesus Christ.

⁸ Whom when ye have not seen, ye love; into whom also now ye not seeing, believe; but ye that believe shall have joy, and gladness that may not be told out, and ye shall be glorified [forsooth ye believing shall have joy withoutforth in gladness unnarrable, that is, that may not be told out, and glorified],

⁹ and have the end of your faith, the health of your souls. [bringing again the end of your faith, the health of your souls.]

¹⁰ Of which health prophets sought, and searched into, that prophesied of the grace to coming in you, [Of which health prophets sought out, and ensearched, that prophesied of the grace to come into you,]

¹¹ and sought which either what manner time the Spirit of Christ signified in them, and before-told those passions, that be in Christ, and the latter glories. [seeking which or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ signified in them, before-telling the passions, that be in Christ, and the latter glories.]

¹² To which it was showed [To whom it is showed], for not to themselves, but to you they ministered those things, that now be told to you by them that preached to you [that now be told to you by them that evangelized to you] by the Holy Ghost sent from heaven, into whom angels desire to behold.

¹³ For which thing be ye gird the loins of your soul, sober, perfect, and hope ye into that grace that is proffered to you by the showing of Jesus Christ [and hope ye into that grace that is offered to you by the revelation, or showing, of Jesus Christ],

¹⁴ as sons of obedience, not made like to the former desires of your unknowingness, [as sons of obedience, not together likened to the former desires of your ignorance,]

¹⁵ but like him that hath called you holy; that also ye self be holy in all living [that and yourselves be holy in all living];

¹⁶ for it is written, Ye shall be holy, for I am holy.

¹⁷ And if ye inwardly call him Father, which deemeth without acception of persons by the work of each man [the which without acception of persons deemeth after the work of each man], live ye in dread in the time of your pilgrimage [in earth];

¹⁸ witting that not by corruptible gold, either silver [or silver], ye be bought again of your vain living of fathers' tradition,

¹⁹ but by the precious blood as of the lamb undefouled and unspotted, Christ Jesus,

²⁰ that was known before the making of the world, but he is showed in the last times, for you

²¹ that by him be faithful in God; that raised him from death [that raised him from dead men], and gave to him everlasting glory, that your faith and hope were in God.

²² And make ye chaste your souls in obedience of charity [Ye making chaste your souls in obedience of charity], in love of brotherhood; of simple heart love ye together more busily.

²³ And be ye born again, not of corruptible seed, but [of] uncorruptible, by the word of living God, and dwelling into without end.

²⁴ For each flesh is hay, and all the glory of it is as the flower of hay; the hay dried up, and his flower felled down^[a];

²⁵ but the word of the Lord dwelleth without end [into without end]. And this is the word, that is preached to you [Soothly this is the word, that is evangelized to you].